The newest release for this software FIX the last bug I had, the memory hog issue where the service was taking up huge amounts of memory (3+ Gb) and causing my PC to run slow (See here: http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-Smartware/WDFME-exe-RAM-hog/td-p/250634 ). Unfortunately now the WDBackupEngine.exe process is constantly taking up 50% of my CPU and causing not only PC slowdowns but also my fans to run at 100% trying to keep it cool. If I stop the "WD Backup" service the process closes and my fans slow down within seconds, returning my computer to normal.

PLEASE fix this issue in your software, the version 1.5.??, although it used a ton of memory, didn't cause my CPU to constantly overheat like this "new" 1.6.0 software does. I don't understand how you guys keep fixing bugs just to introduce new ones.

Note: I have two seperate PC's with this software. Both has the memory problem with the 1.5.* software, both have this high CPU usage with the new 1.6.0 software. Both are Windows 7 64 bit with 4Gb of ram. One has a 1Gb My Essentials, the other has a 320Gb.

I must be lucky, because after the initial backup/synchronisation I have not suffered from the CPU usage that you have on either of my PCs (Dell XPS 8100 Win64 Prof 8Gb RAM & Samsung NP300E7A-A04UK Win64 Ultimate 6Gb RAM)

I am also experiencing the same after following all of the recommended steps - Earlier today I did a search for the .exe file that was dragging my computer, found a thread that lead me to the most recent update, I've now installed it, only to still have significant drag. I am in agreement with this poster - it's not just him.

I don't know if this is relevant or not, but the program seems to be running through "categorizing files" during this time. I don't need all of my computer's files categorized - I bought this drive to hold my music files only and it seems **bleep** bent on backing up my entire computer. If there is a way to just use it to hold my music files, please let me know.

If it from "catagorizing files" then thats a issue as it was doing it for over two days. Not only that I have that turned off and only select a couple directories directly and am not using the catagories functionality.

Same issue. Followed instructions for upgrading 1.6.0.20. WDBackupEngine.exe now consumes 30+% of CPU process time. Related WD processes also consume process time, for a sum of about 50%. This is happening even without the little drive connected to the system. Running a Lenovo T61, dual T7500 CPUs @ 2.2 GHz, 2GB RAM. Note that I tried to terminate the process via Task Manager and it would not die. Yikes.

I just purchased and installed my 1Tb essentials backup drive. the WDbackupengine.exe is running anywhere between 70-95% of CPU power all the time. I am not even doing anything with the backup drive while this is going on. Please fix this.

I just emailed tech support and asked when they will fix this issue and pointed them to this thread also. I suggest everyone else having the same issue also report it through email and maybe they will do something about it.

ditto, my Dell Laptop D620 has similar problem with excessive cpu and lots of page faults. Makes the computer nearly useless. WinXP pro, 2Gb ram. I have faithfully installed WD updates for the past year, and this performance problems only gets worse. My next step is to uninstall Smartware and do the backups myself -- probably using Windows backup, unless forums users have a better idea. I'll keep using the WD drive, but not the software.

I got a email reply back from tech support telling me to uninstall and reinstall the software which I have already done but I'll try again anyway.

As a side not their software is always taking up 1 CPU core fully. For example on my dual core i5 system it shows in task manager as using 50% of the CPU, on my i7 quad core it takes up 25%. Why their software needs to constantly use a entire core is beyond me but on the i5 it over heats and is barely usable, on the i7 it doesn't affect it as much.